Pressure agglomeration processes, such as briquetting, are widely used in numerous industries, including metallurgical, coal, pharmaceutical, and waste treatment, to convert finely divided particulates into solid products of defined size, shape, and density. For example, the solid products or agglomerates can have the form of briquettes, sheets, or pellets, depending on the agglomeration process. The advantages of agglomeration include improved safety, improved handling, and reduced transportation costs, of particulate materials. Moreover, agglomeration can be used in the recycling of waste materials.
Methods of producing agglomerates are well known in the art. Conventional methods typically employ organic binders such as coal tar, clay, starch, waxes, and lignin waste. However, such binders contain substantial levels of impurities and are unsuitable for certain applications, for example, smelting processes, where purity is important. Moreover, conventional binders have relatively low char yields. As a result, agglomerates containing conventional binders often have poor bond strength at temperatures greater than the decomposition temperature of the binder.
Consequently, there is a need for a composition comprising a binder having high purity and high char yield that can be compressed into an agglomerate having high bond strength at elevated temperatures.